Recently I watched all of the films in the Transformers film series and wanted to share my thoughts on it. The Transformers is an iconic film series starting in 2007, with 7 movies and the 8th on the way. The movie has a wide variety of actors and actresses. They’re all gritty, action, sci-fi movies with enjoyable characters and great world-building. The director Michael Bay has spent over a decade building this world and it’s amazing with very few flaws.
The back story follows an alien race of machines that can transform into cars, planes, motorcycles and more. Their planet was destroyed in a civil war between Autobots and Decepticons. The Autobots take refuge on Earth while still battling the Decepticons. They used to come from a different planet called Cybertron where Optimus Prime and Megatron were best friends. Megatron was a famous wrestler and Optimus was training to be a prime. The civil war broke out when Megatron sought out the Allspark to conquer other worlds, he raised other gladiators to do this, and to counter this so did Optimus Prime. The civil war broke out and they destroyed their planet. Megatron and the Decepticons left and so did the Autobots and Optimus Prime following closely with the battle continuing on Earth.
The first movie takes place around 2007 surrounding a kid named Sam Witwicky(Shia Labeouf). He’s connected to the Transformers through his grandfather who came across the Decepticon leader, Megatron who crashed on Earth looking for the Allspark. Sam’s trying to impress a girl he likes so he buys a car and everything changes when he finds one of the Autobots. I think the first movie is great. It starts the series off interesting and the characters all have good motives and backstories. Watching the film I believe that Mikaela(Megan Fox) feels really basic and very sexualized even though she’s supposed to be a minor. I say this because they put her in weird positions and say things that even in context are a little weird I do think she’s an interesting character who at the time was meant to be different but over 10 years later she feels like another basic trope. But besides that, it’s a good watch, has an interesting plot line, and is considered a modern classic like Fast and Furious 1, American Psycho, and Mean Girls.
In the second one, the war between Autobots and Decepticons is going on. It’s been about two years since we have the same two main characters, Sam and Mikaela, and now they are dating. The story is that an ancient Decepticon named The Fallen is back and the Decepticons and Autobots are now racing to find a huge source of energon. I like the second one a lot because there is a lot more character building and it’s an interesting story. We get to learn more about Optimus and the Transformer’s history. We also get to see Sam have this weird funny relationship with Bumblebee. They added a bit more to Mikaela’s character with the situation with her dad, but she’s still just as sexualized. I also like seeing Agent Simmons(John Turturro) come back, see his character change, and learn more about his secret organization. The leadership of Matrix was a great idea since it added more to Optimus and his authority making him feel like an official leader. Learning more about Megatron’s character is always fun and interesting as more of his motives come to light. With the Decepticons, I like how they got more creative with their designs with the cat hybrid and the big mash-up of all of them at the end.
In Transformers Dark of The Moon, Sam is out of college, Mikeala broke up with him, and It has been a couple more years. He has a new girlfriend and a new place but he doesn’t have a job and it’s stressing him out. His girlfriend’s boss landed him a job out of bad intention but he didn’t learn that till later. The Autobots and Decepticons are still fighting. They find another Autobot on the moon, an old one that has the key to winning the war but never made it. The third one is amazing. I like the idea of this Autobot that betrays Optimus Prime. This shows how Optimus is the better leader, The sacrifices he makes, and also how some of them can get lost. This movie also did a great job showing how Megatron is the opposite of Optimus and it adds to his character. They were both going to kill the traitor. Autobot Optimus was for punishment and retaliation for killing other Transformers but Megatron was for pride and because he didn’t feel like a real leader. Also, I like how Agent Simmons comes back as this crazy, rich, eccentric millionaire. I don’t like the new girlfriend. I think she’s just a sexualized character and she doesn’t have as much depth as Mikieala did, she just feels like she’s there to be in danger and be saved. I also like that we finally got to see a clear view of what their planet looks like and it looks so cool and amazing. Being an old movie they capture the living metal flawlessly.
In Transformers Age of Extinction, it’s been a couple of years, and the world views Autobots as nothing but trouble. The Autobots have gone into hiding and the government is hunting them down. The government has replaced them with their version of the Transformers. We have another human cast. A single dad, his daughter, and her boyfriend. The new transformers are now a threat and the Autobots have to save them again. The fourth one explores a new idea and I am a fan of it. In the movie, they make their own Transformers, and it’s so interesting because it shows how similar and complicated they are to humans in their anatomy and emotions. Also seeing the comparison between the new ones and the old is interesting. Because the new ones are made from parts of the dead Autobots, it gives them a weird, negative feeling and makes it more personal and serious to the Autobots.
Now we’re on the fifth one Transformers: The Last Knight. This focuses on Optimus and his Autobots, they find The dead remains of their planet and they learn how to fix it. They have a villain again and with more transformers from their past, they stop them. The fourth I think is interesting, I like the dragons, and I think it is one of their better ones, I like the CGI, it has a good story with good humor. The story starts in the middle of a war in the Middle Ages and it’s an interesting and different way to start a movie. Also knowing that Optimus is the one who killed Cybertron by accident and how everything he has worked for has fallen apart is interesting and also lays the groundwork for new ideas in their future movies, since saving Cybertron or going back home isn’t an option anymore. It feels like this movie was a turning point for the series since from now on they have to find new ideas and get more creative writing.
The sixth one is The Bumble Bee movie. This movie focuses on a girl named Charlie and she’s just trying to find her place in the world then she discovers this car and everything in her life changes. This one is my favorite, it’s well-written and doesn’t need any background info on the transformers. We get to watch her go on a crazy, self-discovery trip to save the world with Bumblebee. This is almost like a stand-alone movie and I love it. I think it’s one of the best because it has good storytelling even if it’s just a basic plot. It’s done extremely well and tells the story nicely without doing too much. Since they can’t rely on anything from the previous movies because it takes place before all of it, they get creative. Compared to the other ones this one is a lot more visually brighter. I think it’s the best, I can’t think of anything wrong. Because it’s basically a stand-alone, it makes it stronger since more people can watch it without knowing anything or if they aren’t the biggest fans. This is the movie I would recommend for anyone to watch out of the series, it’s an amazing movie.
The last one Rise of The Beast focuses on this new character in the 90s, Noah. It all starts when he steals a car and then resells it, so he can help support his brother, but everything changes when he ends up with a transformer. He’s now in this museum where Elena is working on exactly what they need. They go to help the Transformers, where we meet more of them and the movie’s villain. In this one, I like that they did something different with the main character. Usually, the characters are making all the best choices for the Autobots and are always really putting them first one way or another but Noah doesn’t. He would rather risk everything they are working on just to save himself and everyone else and it is more realistic. It makes him a more flawed character than the other but more relatable. For Elena’s character, I like how they improved on her, compared to the other’s. She had a motive and a little bit more depth. It’s also a lot more visually brighter than the others and I like that because everything pops at you more. Also in the movie, since it takes place before all the other it’s sort of a backstory and we get to see Maximals have a long, personal, relationship with humans and see Optimus change his mind about it thanks to them, and Noah. We learn why Optimus is the way he is about humans and see the reflection between him, Noah, and humans.
The next movie is already out and looks amazing. I don’t know what it’s about but it might be exploring the ideas left from the Rise of the Beast since the movie was open-ended. It could also be more backstory since that’s been the trend for the past couple of movies. But from what I can see, it is animated and the faces are so expressive, vibrant, and vivid but it still has a lot of details from the live-action versions.
I think the Transformers series is great. You have to pay attention to get the timeline and the plotline. The best part of this series is the world-building. In the beginning, they were making minor mistakes but as it kept going it just got better and better. Their characters became more expressive, interesting, diverse, and fun. The characters got more depth too like Megatron or Optimus so they aren’t shallow and they did a great job forming their world and characters that match it. But I do believe that the series should end as soon as the story is done, so it doesn’t become redundant as Fast and Furious did. As much as I love watching it, and seeing the growth not only in the characters but in the directing and storytelling, I don’t want the good movies ruined by going on too long. I would recommend this if you like sci-fi and cars, and if you want something long to watch and keep you entertained. And for anyone confused about the timeline it’s Bumble Bee, Transformers: Rise of The Beast, Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen, Transformers: Dark of The Moon, Transformers: Age Extinction, and Transformers: The Last Knight, but I recommend you watch it the order it came out.
